Mementos
by Christine Geyer
Summary: Okay, I haven't had any good ideas in months, but I wanted to try this drawer mystery idea. Sharon is digging through her drawer when she gets surprised by a visitor.


Sharon sat back down in her office after a whirlwind of a week, trying to process everything that had happened. Two days ago is when she found out Andy had been lying to his daughter about their relationship. Yesterday was when Rusty had made her wonder how far off the truth all of it had really been.

She was much more reasonable than dating a subordinate. Or so she thought. However, the more she thought, the harder it was becoming to deny, that Andy meant something more to her than a friend. She reached into her purse and pulled out a ticket stub. She stared at it for several minutes, thinking about the events leading up to the ballet last night. She opened her desk drawer and reached all the way back to a small manila envelope. She carefully pulled open the metal tabs that were keeping it closed. They were becoming very worn. After a quick glance out to the murder room to make sure she wouldn't be interrupted, she emptied the contents onto her desk and found the match for ticket stub she had just grabbed from her bag. She found it pretty quickly, buried among some movie and baseball tickets, a wedding program, a flier from a fundraiser, and a few restaurant matchbooks.

Sharon knew she was in full denial. Saving all of these mementos was not normal behavior for friends. She didn't have envelopes like this for any of her other friends or coworkers. She did have nicer containers at home that stored things from her children. When she considered it logically, she realized in her head that she was categorizing Andy more as family than as a friend.

Sharon hated being lied to. Andy made the point that he hadn't officially lied, but it became clear that Andy knew what Nicole thought and hadn't corrected her until Sharon made him. She was annoyed at how easy she was finding it to forgive him. She knew he hadn't meant to hurt her though.

Sharon was so lost in thought she hadn't realized how much time had passed. She also hadn't heard the knock on her door. Andy slowly pushed the door open when he didn't get a response. "Hey, everything okay?" he asked in a quiet voice, not wanting to startle her.

Sharon looked up and saw the subject of her thoughts in the doorway. "Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine." Her eyes flicked to the clock. "Oh my, I had no idea what time it was. I should be getting home to Rusty." She noticed the room behind Andy was empty.

Andy's eyes wandered to her desk. They had just closed a case, so he was curious what she was looking at. "What are you working on in here?"

Sharon realized everything he had seen all the mementos on her desk and was embarrassed. "Oh, nothing. Just organizing my desk drawer." She quickly began shoving everything back into the envelope it had come from.

Andy laughed and commented, "Well, that doesn't look very organized…" All of a sudden, he stopped laughing when he recognized something. "Wait, is that program from my daughter's wedding? You saved it?"

"Yes, I guess I did…" she said hesitantly.

"What else is in there?" he asked, but he waited for her to show him, because he was starting to suspect what was happening and could also detect Sharon's extreme discomfort.

Sharon knew she was caught, so she emptied the envelope back onto her desk. Andy came over and saw everything she had saved from all of the things they had done together outside of work.

"I'm sorry, this must look kind of crazy," Sharon said, staring at her desk and not able to meet Andy's eyes just yet.

Andy smiled at her. "Well, if that makes you crazy, then I guess this makes two of us," he said as he pulled out his wallet. Inside was a handful of ticket stubs that almost perfectly matched hers.

Sharon looked at him for the first time since they had started this conversation and started laughing. Andy quickly joined it, relieved to see her somewhat back at ease.

He put his handful of stubs back into his wallet. "Hey, what do you say we add to our collections? Let's swing by and get Rusty if he's home, then grab a bite and a movie."

Sharon stood up and grabbed her purse and jacket. Before she knew what she was doing she leaned over to him and quickly kissed his cheek. "Sounds perfect. I'll meet you at my place." She left her office quickly, before she could overanalyze what she had just done. Andy hesitated for a moment as his hand raised to his cheek and a smile crept over his face. He couldn't wait to see what new memories they'd make tonight.


End file.
